Imprisoned F.B.I. Agent Indicted In Killing of Gambling Executive

Published: May 5, 2005

A former F.B.I. agent in prison for shielding Boston mobsters from prosecutors was indicted on Wednesday in the killing of a former Miami gambling executive whose body was stuffed into the trunk of his Cadillac in 1982.

The former agent, John J. Connolly Jr., 64, was charged in a state court with first-degree murder and conspiracy in the killing of a former president of World Jai Alai, John B. Callahan. Mr. Callahan was shot twice in the head, and a dime was placed on his chest, an underworld signal to others not to ''drop a dime'' or snitch on other mobsters, investigators said. His body was found in his car at a parking lot at Miami International Airport.

''I can tell you he's not guilty,'' Mr. Connolly's lawyer, Edward J. Lonergan, said. ''I've known John since 1961. John is a good, good man, and this is a sad, sad process. It's just very disappointing.''

The investigators said Mr. Callahan advised the Winter Hill gang in Boston, run by James Bulger, a fugitive who has been charged in Mr. Callahan's death. Also charged are Mr. Bulger's top lieutenant, Stephen Flemmi, and John V. Martorano, who is accused of pulling the trigger in the killing and who agreed to testify against his former mob bosses.

''Connolly assisted the criminal activities of the Winter Hill gang by supplying information and intelligence to Bulger, Flemmi and Martorano that led directly to the murder of several individuals,'' the state attorney for Miami-Dade County, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, said. ''But for the actions of John Connolly, these murders could not and would not have happened.''

Mr. Flemmi, 70, pleaded guilty in February 2004 in the killing and was sentenced to life in prison. Mr. Flemmi got another life term last year, after pleading guilty to killing another World Jai Alai executive, Roger M. Wheeler, in 1981 in Tulsa, Okla.

Mr. Connolly is serving a 10-year sentence in a federal prison in Butner, N.C., for racketeering, obstruction of justice and other crimes.